Ushakov says Russia is ready to resume talks with US and Ukraine in November

Russia is ready to resume talks with the United States and Ukraine around mid-November, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said after Vladimir Putin met Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.

Ushakov said Putin told the US envoy that Russia was ready to discuss a post-conflict security system for Russia and Ukraine. The remarks set out Moscow's position on a possible resumption of contacts.

Witkoff briefed Putin on negotiations in Oslo and new approaches to a settlement. Ushakov described the proposals' usefulness as limited. The meeting lasted almost three hours and was thorough and frank, the presidential aide said.

According to Ushakov, Putin praised the mediation efforts of the US administration, Donald Trump and his representatives. Ushakov blamed a Ukrainian strike on election day, including strikes on election commissions, for disrupting an earlier resumption of talks after Russia's State Duma election.